UH Student Improv Troupe Headed to National CompetitionGlaundor Taking Its Show On The Road for National College Improv Tournament March 23

March 5, 2013-Houston-

Seven
University of Houston students have spent the past two years honing their
comedic improvisational talents on local stages. Now, they are preparing to
take their show on the road to compete in the National College Improv
Tournament (CIT) March 23 in Chicago’s Athenaeum Theater.

Comprised
of students from UH’s School of Theatre & Dance, the troupe Glaundor will
compete against improv teams from across the country. The group recently took
first place in CIT’s southwest regional tournament in Austin, earning it a spot
in the national competition.

“Representing
UH at the College Improv Tournament is an awesome feeling,” said Glaundor member and senior
theater major Jason Ronje. “Many members of Glaundor want to pursue improv
after graduation, so it will be great to perform in Chicago, which is
considered as the mecca for this form of comedy.”

In
2011, the group made its debut during an open mic comedy night at Houston
nightclub, the Mink. Later that year, Glaundor performed in front of 600 people
at UH’s Cullen Performance Hall as the opening act for popular comedy troupe,
the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). That particular experience also was
rewarding as UCB members conducted an improv workshop for Ronje and the rest of
Glaundor.

“That
experience helped us gauge where we were as a troupe,” Ronje said. “It gave us
a vocabulary that we could use to expand on our act. Before that, we were a
gaggle of guys goofing around. Now, we
can intelligently discuss what does and doesn’t make a scene work.”

Glaundor
specializes in long-form improv comedy, which links separate stories together
within a single performance. The group performs on campus and at Houston
venues. It also has taken its brand of comedy to Texas Christian University in
Fort Worth, Texas.

About the University of
Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research
university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s best
colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive
Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential
learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation’s
fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 40,700 students in the most ethnically
and culturally diverse region in the country.